…a better tomorrow…

Connections matter more than we imagine

You may have been shocked by the statistic that ‘the Queensland Police Statistical Review shows one in eight sex offenders in 2009-10 were 10 to 14-year-old boys’. Or perhaps you were shocked that those 10-14 year old boys committed 276 rapes and other sexual assaults.

Perhaps you were shocked that last year, a total of ‘1204 boys aged 10 to 14 were charged with violent offences against other people including murder, armed robbery and stalking’.

It was shocking to read that this was ‘an increase of 12 per cent on the previous year, and 36 per cent more than the 10-year average for that age group’.

Perhaps you were not so shocked that much of this is attributed to a culture of heightened sexuality and violence promoted by the media, according to Professor Smallbone of Griffith University.

But maybe, like me, you were most shocked by the statement that “…if kids are well connected with their families and the community, those sorts of influences have much less effect than for the kids who are already marginalised.”

I was shocked by this because the answer’s right in front of us. And it may not be easy – but it’s achievable. And it’s acknowledged.